


The Sword

by Shabby Abby (KJPearl)



Series: Hieron daemon AU [2]
Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Daemon settling, F/M, Gen, daemon AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 18:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14118651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KJPearl/pseuds/Shabby%20Abby
Summary: A reverse chronology of Hadrian and Rhea with their loved ones.





	The Sword

Hadrian smiled at the sight of Rhea, curled protectively around Hanna. Like Benjamin, Hanna lay still and sleeping, taking her currently preferred form of a golden retriever. Her small body was balled up, breath coming in and out slowly, as she lay within the larger dog’s embrace.

Benjamin himself sat on the sofa next to Hadrian, head resting against his father’s chest as he slept. The book he had been reading lay open in his lap. Hadrian gently took the book and closed it, placing it on the table next to him before lifting Benjamin. The boy was still small enough for Hadrian to carry, though it grew harder every time. Hadrian dreaded the day he left on a mission for Samothes and returned to find his son grown too big to be carried in his father's arms. Rhea did the same with Hanna, lifting her gently into her mouth and padding after Hadrian to Ben’s room.

They settled the two onto the bed together and Hanna wiggled her way into Ben’s arms, where he held her close, like a stuffed animal. Hadrian felt his chest swell with that mixture of pride and adoration that only Ben could inspire in him.

“Precious, aren’t they,” Rhea said.

“Yes,” he agreed, “But so much older. He’s small still, but it won’t last forever Rhe. Soon he’ll be all grown up and Hanna will have settled. And we’ll have missed his whole childhood.”

Rhea bumped her head against his legs, gently chastising him, “That’s not true. You’re here now, and whenever you can. We do our duty to Samothes — and it’s good work, helping protect the weak, but then we come home. We always come home to them. Don’t forget that.”

“You’re right,” he conceded.

“Of course I am,” she grinned up at him, tongue lolling.

\---

He first saw Rosana at church. Hadrian clearly remembered her singing in the choir. Back then he had been a boy himself, only just beginning paladin training, Rhea newly settled.

When he first saw her, he barely noticed her daemon, a small bird-of-paradise, nestled on her shoulder. Hadrian was engrossed by her beauty and even more by the devotion in her voice. She stood at the front of the church, silhouetted by a halo from the light passing through the stained glass sun behind her, and everything else seemed to fade away. The uncomfortable pew he sat on, his father's looming presence at his right side, the weight of his paladin medallion around his neck, all vanished. He knew he had to meet her. So he found her outside after church that day, among the throng of gossiping parents, wild children, and curmudgeonly elders that slowly poured out the church doors. 

“Hi,” he approached her, hand outstretched, “I’m Hadrian and this is Rhea.”

“We’re Rosana and Gwen,” she said. She shook his hand firmly and gave him a puzzled look.

“You have a beautiful voice,” he blurted out.

“Thank you. Samothes lights our way, it is a joy to sing his praise.” 

A standard response, but she spoke with an fervent honesty that many lacked. Just like her song. Her face too was open. A wide smile spread her pink lips, and her brown eyes sparkled. Her long black hair hung loose down her back, blowing in the slight breeze. Just then, she pushed her hair back from her face and he saw her daemon. She perched on her shoulder, small and inconspicuous with her reddish brown coloring, but her eyes were shrewd and darting.

“It is,” Hadrian finally responded, words failing him. He felt Rhea shove herself into his leg, none too gently. If they hadn't been in public he was sure she would have been berating his awkwardness.

“Of course,” Rosana smiled teasingly, “as paladin you must understand the joy our lord brings. You serve as his will on earth.”

“Yes. We each serve Samothes in our own way, and no worship is too small. The beauty of your song honours him as much as my work, and I’m sure it brought joy to all who heard it.”

“That’s sweet of you to say,” she chuckled warmly.

“Rosana!” an older woman called out, saving Hadrian from having to respond.

“And that would be my mother,” Rosana said, “I need to go, but maybe I’ll see you around. The choir practices every Tineday evening.”

\---

Rhea had settled rather late on. Hadrian had worried over it constantly, though his parents had reassured him she would settle in her own time and her form would be one he knew and loved. That was easy for them to say, he'd always thought. They had settled young; his mother into a bobtail cat and his father a polecat, both common in Velas.

Hadrian had always secretly wished for a lion daemon, as it was said Samothes had. His daemon’s flowing mane had inspired the sun’s rays which sustained all human life and joy. Hadrian had always wanted to emulate his lord, but in his heart whenever Rhea took a lioness form he knew it wasn’t right. It fit like clothing bought a size too large which he had hoped to grow into, but never quite did. He had wondered if he would be a domestic cat, like his mother, but quickly dismissed it. Rhea had never once taken the form of a small cat. 

It was dog that seemed to be her preferred form, back then when he was fourteen and still unsettled. She would try to keep each form for the whole day, as if they had already settled, hoping desperately that this would be the day they did. The dogs seemed to get larger and more wolf-like with each attempt.  Dogs were alright, as far as daemons went. Known for their loyalty and obedience they were frequently found among the devout. (And among servants, those who disparaged them would say.)

But wolves were something else, wild and untamed, seen as fierce of even dangerous. Hadrian had heard in passing that they were sacred to some sects in the South-East of Hieron, but not here where Samothes reigned. 

When Rhea settled at last she was not quite a wolf. Her final form was that of a malamute, a massive dog. She took that form on the morning he was accepted into paladin training and took his first vows to serve as the sword of Samothes. It lasted until evening, and then overnight to the next day, and then the next with no strain.

“Are we settled?” Hadrian asked Rhea the evening of the second day. She paused for a moment, Hadrian could tell she was testing, seeing if she could change anymore. Nothing happened.

“I guess we have,” she said, resteing her muzzle on his lap, shining black eyes looking up at him, “Is that alright?”

“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“We didn’t want to be a dog,” she said.

“That’s-”

“You can’t lie to me, Hadrian, I know what we wanted,” she snarled, but Hadrian could feel the sorrow beneath her words.

“Well, it wasn't going to happen. We’re not a lion. We’re not Samothes. We’re just us,” he said. He could feel his voice shake, but that didn’t make it any less true. Hadrian had worried for so long he would be disappointed by Rhea's final form. That he would have to try and hide his disappointment, and she, his heart of hearts would know, but pretend she didn't for the sake of their happiness. Instead, sitting curled up with her today Hadrian realized what his parents had meant, because her form fit them so perfectly. He thought back to the paladin ceremony, when Rhea had stood proud beside him in the malamute form and found he couldn’t regret a thing. 

“You’re perfect,” he whispered into her fur, “You’re perfect and I’d love you even if you weren’t. We’re just us and this is who we’re supposed to be.”


End file.
